Steel Bolt Hacking

Alec Kryten writes "Here is a book that introduces and teaches a fascinating new sport for the hacking hobbyist which doesn't necessarily involve computers. Steel bolt hacking is the art of competition lock picking that is beginning to make its mark on computer people and other geeks around the world. At DefCon this year I picked up a book titled Steel Bolt Hacking, which teaches the basics of lock picking. I bought it because I watched the lock-picking contest during the DefCon Convention and thought that I might want to participate in next year's lock-picking events." Read on for Alec's review of the book. Steel Bolt Hacking author Douglas Chick pages 114 publisher TheNetworkAdministrator.com rating 8 out of 10 reviewer Alec Kryten ISBN 0974463019 summary How to pick locks, crack combinations for LP sports groups

The beginning of the book discusses the origins of lock-picking sporting groups, crews in the U.S and Europe, competition around the country, and how to become a part of a lock-picking group. One of the groups out of Colorado Springs, DC719, are a bunch of computer geeks that have taken up the art of lock picking and sponsor a lock-picking contest every year at DefCon. According to Mr. Chick, computer people are the fastest group to pick up the art of lock picking. (I must warn you though, there are also a lot of disclaimers about the author not being responsible for the misuses of the information contained in this book.)

The book is fully illustrated with pictures of different types of lock picking instruments, tools to make your own picks as well as padlocks, deadbolt, and combination locks. There are pictures of locks that have been cut open and even how to crack push-button combination locks. (You know, the kind you find on the door to a server room.) I have to say, for a little book, (114 pages) it is brimming with valuable information for a beginner. What I didn't realize was that software isn't the only thing that has security vulnerabilities; mechanical things like padlocks and deadbolts do as well. What was scary to learn is how easy cheap locks can be picked, and that 80 percent of all locks used are cheap locks. Expensive locks are just likely to take a little longer.

I liked that the book didn't exaggerate. It didn't tell me that I was going to be a master lock picker after only a few tries. It took a little time, practice and sore fingers, but after a couple weeks of practice, I could pick every lock in my house. And as a computer person, I liked all of the jargon that was used to explain locksmith techniques. There was also enough humor to keep the book interesting; it's difficult to read any type of textbook and still maintain a reasonable interest. The illustrations are good and there is a resource section to purchase the tools you need from the Internet.

What I didn't like about the book: The most annoying point, I felt, is the considerable redundancy in methods between different types of locks to be picked. Also, the book suggests that there might be a lock-picking group in every city in the U.S., when in fact I am having a difficult time finding one in my are. And I live near D.C. -- You'd think there would be one on every corner around here. I think that the sport is still in its infancy and Mr. Chick is hoping his book will draw more people to it. The author put his e-mail address on the back of the book. He hasn't responded to my e-mail yet, but I suppose that he's probably a busy man.

All in all, I found the book informative, entertaining and worth the purchase price of 19.99.

You can purchase Steel Bolt Hacking from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

FP

[Anonymous Coward]

first P

Plz hlep!

[Anonymous Coward]

I sent this to their webmaster:

I find it somewhat humorous that on this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/security.m spx

the photo you use is that of a Macintosh PowerBook G4 15" (with the Apple logo on the back of the screen Photoshop-ed out), on a page about security summits and programs. While I don't want to get into a pissing contest about which OS is more secure, it's mildly humorous to find a Mac being used to advertise Microsoft's security, even if it is subtle.

Respectfully,
Andy Ringsmuth



I'll try and keep an eye on it and see if they decide to change the photo.....

For god's sake people, stop kidding yourselves

[Anonymous Coward]

It is now official. Netcraft confirms: Eros is dying

One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Eros community when IDC confirmed that Eros market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 0.0001 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that Eros has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Eros is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Research Projects That Promise Much But Go Nowhere networking test.

You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict Eros's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Eros faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Eros because Eros is dying. Things are looking very bad for Eros. As many of us are already aware, Eros continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

Eros leader Jonathan Shapiro states that there are 7 users of Eros. How many users of KeyKos are there? Let's see. KeyKos is at about 8 percent of the Eros market. Therefore there are 7 + 1 = 8 users of either Eros or KeyKos. This is consistent with the number of Eros Usenet posts.

Due to troubles at University of Pennsylvania, abysmal development speed and so on, Eros went through a "focus shift" by doing a useless rewrite in C and was taken over by Johns Hopkins University, who attempted to continue development on this troubled OS. Then the project was sidetracked while precious development resources went towards creating Yet Another Useless Version Control System. Now it is dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

All major surveys show that Eros has steadily declined in market share. Eros is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Eros is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. Eros continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Eros is dead.

Fact: Eros is dying

tbiznatch

[Anonymous Coward]

to keep up as it was fun. If I'm haplees *BSD The politic4l mess walk up to a play

Free gmail invite

[Anonymous Coward]

to anyone who signs up for an offer on freeIpods.com.

not to split hairs or anything...

[Anonymous Coward]

How to Reclaim your Virginity

as this has already been modded a troll, but shouldn't it be How to Lose your Virginity?

Re:A valuable skill

[Anonymous Coward]

I went to your web page mentioned in your sig, and noticed that the weather picture of the hurricane now looks like a nude model....

or is it just me? Guess I need to get out more!

this looks cool

[beefcake101]

i might have to give it a try.. i guess no more useing credit cards to open locks anymore

dintroduces????

[mrklin]

"Here is a book that dintroduces [sic] and teaches"

Does the deditor not drun the dspell dchecker?

Oh yeah, I forgot, this is dSlashdot.

Patriot Act + Zero Tolerance = Be VERY Careful

[potus98]

Hey novice lockpickers, be VERY careful! Although the U.S. Patriot Act and Zero Tolerance are not directly connected, the type of thinking is...

In New Jersey, four children received school suspensions for "shooting" at each other (bang! bang!) with extended index fingers. The kids had violated their school's zero-tolerance policy against "weapons".

Commonwealth v. Milo A 12-year-old student drew pictures that depicted his teacher being shot.

In Irvington, N.J., two eight-year-olds have been charged with "making terrorist threats." The boys were "playing cops and robbers with a paper gun,"